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Badgers rally past Cleveland State

MADISON — Taylor Wurtz rescued the University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team Sunday afternoon.

The freshman from Ripon made the go-ahead basket with 1:39 left and added a free throw late as the Badgers rallied past Cleveland State,

70-68, at the Kohl Center.

Cleveland State had two opportunities on its final possession, but missed a jumper and a layup in the closing seconds.

The Badgers (3-0) played from behind most of the game, trailing by 15 points with 1:49 remaining in the first half. Cleveland State maintained a sizeable lead in the second half, until the Badgers went on a 15-5 run, pulling within three points at 50-47 with 11:24 left. Junior forward Lin Zastrow, who sat most of the first half due to foul trouble, scored seven straight points for Wisconsin during the run.

The Vikings jumped out to a seven-point lead at the 5:50 mark and again at the 3:56 mark, but Wisconsin outscored Cleveland State 9-0 in the final four minutes of the game.

Wurtz finished with 10 points, marking her second career game scoring in double figures. Junior guard Alyssa Karel led the Badgers with 14 points while Zastrow added 12 points, all of which came in the second half. Wisconsin shot 47.5 percent from the field.

Catie O’Leary, a freshman from Janesville Parker, did not play for the Badgers.

Cleveland State shot 51 percent from the field and had three players finish in double figures. Shawnita Garland scored 23 for the Vikings, while Kailey Klein put up 19 points.

Wisconsin outrebounded the Vikings 33-24 with Zastrow’s eight rebounds leading the way. The Badgers finished with a slight edge in turnovers, giving the ball away 15 times, compared to 17 for Cleveland State. Both teams capitalized on the turnovers as CSU scored 19 points off the giveaways compared to 16 points for UW.

The Badgers host UW-Green Bay at 8 p.m. Tuesday. It will be televised live by the Big Ten Network (Channel 50 on Janesville cab le).